Written Down
by Vincent the Sheep
Summary: It was simple, Jak had a diary, and Daxter wanted to read it. But it is often said that Curiosity killed the Ottsel...
1. Prologue

**Hello once again FanFiction readers! I'm here to pitch another Jak and Daxter fanfic, to see if it interests anybody.**

**Once again, I'm going to say that WRITING FANFIC IS A NEW THING FOR ME but of course I won't let that stop any constructive ****criticism, I'll be expecting a lot of that. I also have to say, the length of time it will take to publish a new chapter will be proportional to the amount of interest this story creates, I need to know if a continuation is something worth doing.**

**Warning: If you're not that into Slash, even in its mildest form, this story might weird you out.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Jak and Daxter. I wish I did, but I don't.**

**Read away!**

* * *

The storm that blew upon Haven City that night had no trouble keeping me wide awake.

I always found it hard to dismiss the constant drone of heavy rain, smacking down on the roof far above me, accompanied by the loud thunder that would constantly make me jump. And I know that it's not any of my 'animal instincts', I just hate storms, simple as that. Even back at Sandover Village, before I was small, cute and fuzzy, I would always toss and turn under the sheets during the worst storms. On some nights, I would even cry out loud enough to wake up the entire village in the middle of the night, including Samos. Heh, probably another reason he hated me so much.

Jak helped with a lot of that. Nowadays, I've gotten better with handling my childhood phobia, not because of maturity, hell I'm far from that, but because of the many dangerous experiences I've had with Jak. I've seen this guy take on the toughest, nastiest and ugliest creatures that the world could ever throw at us, I've seen this guy go to the greatest, and most painful, lengths just to help out his friend, and save the lives of people he never even knew. And yet I still get scared from something as plain and natural as a storm.

That's just pathetic.

I gave up with any attempt of going to sleep, so I rolled over to my right side to face Jak. I remember the days when Jak used to look so peaceful when he slept, even during the craziest storms. But those days were gone, due to the two years of imprisonment, torture and god knows what else that he had to face. Prison messed him up alright, and not even an army of shrinks can fix anything about what'd happened to Jak. None of my problems could stack anywhere close to any of his...

I got out of my bed, well, hammock actually. It was a small piece of cloth, probably torn from one of Jak's sleeves, set up on the drawer that stood next to Jak's bed. Jak was asleep, but he was not having a good time. Another nightmare, definitely, but I knew there wasn't much I could do about that. On earlier nights, I had tried to help Jak, like the way he helped me, climbing down onto his bed to console him, telling him that everything was over, and that I would always be there. But Jak had always been a deep sleeper, and all attempts to calm him down only gave me the risk of getting crushed to death, accidentally of course.

I needed to find something to do, to keep my mind off of the storm, that sometimes helped. After all, it's better to spend time actually doing something, and not just lying down, feeling sorry for myself, it's more productive that way. I didn't have that many options, everybody in the Palace was surely asleep, with the guards on night shift as the only exception, but I was certain they weren't up for any conversation either. I considered reading a book, but the process of hauling one out of the bookshelf is exhausting enough as it is, I don't think I need to explain why. Besides, even a book with an interesting plot wouldn't be able to distract me enough to go to sleep anyway.

That's when the thought hit me, maybe there was one book I could read. Ok, maybe it wasn't a book, but it's contents would've been more than enough to at least entertain me.

You see, a couple of months after we defeated Erol, saving the world once again I might add, Jak continued to have nightmares of prison, Praxis and Dark Eco. Even after all these years, taking revenge all on those that had wronged him before, Jak still couldn't quite shake the past off of him, the trauma was still there. That was when Keira suggested that maybe he should keep a journal, a diary, whatever you call it, and write anything that was still bothering him. His nightmares, thoughts and hopes, anything in the hope that he would strive to overcome them. This diary would have all the juicy info on Jak that I can get, and tonight was probably the best time to go for it.

Once I had made my decision, I leaped off the shelf onto the bed next to me to begin my journey. I hardly made the gap as I ended up clinging onto the sides of Jak's bed, hanging on for dear life. I never really had much body strength to begin with, as I noticed that I was starting to pull the bed covers down with me. Already, I realized that my adventure was going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.

_"I can't give up now"_

Luckily, I had managed to wedge my right foot into a small, almost non-existent, gap between the two mattresses that made Jak's bed, and managed to re-steady myself to an upright position.

_"Phew"_

I could not help but sigh with a breath of relief. If I had managed to pull off those bed sheets, Jak would've woken up, with absolutely nothing covering him up, shivering and wondering what might have happened the previous night. Even with his nightmares he never made _that_ much commotion, and I really didn't need him to suspect that I had snooped around through his personal belongings, especially his diary.

I finally pulled myself on top of the bed itself, finally getting to fully scope Jak's proximity for any sign of the diary.

_"That was a LOT harder than it should have been."_

Now where would Jak put such a personal and private item like a diary? It was definitely in this room, but where exactly was the question. I considered the bookcase, maybe hiding it in plain sight seemed like a good idea to Jak. No, that would be too obvious, the purple leather of the diary would've stuck out between the dull red and green covers that most of the Palace's books had, I would've found it right away. It had to be close by, probably somewhere on this very bed.

I tramped up the bed, continuing my search while trying very carefully not to stupidly trip myself up. There is only one safe place on the bed to store any item, that no city thief would dare go for, and that would be under the pillows. Of course it couldn't be on the one Jak was resting on, that would just be uncomfortable, so I reached to lift the pillow on the left. After a considerable amount of effort, I finally managed to lift the pillow up and drag the diary to where I could read it.

I sat on the front of Jak's bed, with the diary laid out in front of me. For a second, the sensible part of my mind hesitated, should I really be doing this? This is Jak's very own personal diary, to help fume out his own problems, after all!  
At the end, my more curious side had triumphed. What on earth could Jak have written in that diary, that was too personal to even mention to his best friend in the world? Like I'd said, Jak and I had been through a world of hell together over the past couple of years, we were real tight. Why would he still be keeping secrets from me? Besides, maybe if I knew more about Jak's personal problems, I could try to help him out, talk to him, provide moral support, anything really!

I unlocked the pointless padlock on the front of the diary, which didn't even need a key to do so, and I peered into the contents of the diary.

The first entry read:  
_"What am I becoming? No matter how hard I've tried, sometimes I just can't control my rage, this monster inside of me, when I want to. What does Daxter think of me now, he must be terrified of me, at least, he SHOULD be terrified of me. I just don't want to hurt him, my one best friend._

I couldn't help but smile, Jak could be a bit overprotective of me at times. Even though it still didn't stop me from getting us into trouble, he still tried to look out for me. I knew that Jak deeply cared for my safety and, although I wouldn't admit it either, I cared for him as well. Because of the Light Eco, Jak is beginning to handle his Dark Eco problems well. This is a good thing, of course, but I have a feeling that even today Jak is still worried, about reaching his breaking point and...well you know, hurting people. No matter how much I try to reassure him.

I began flipping past the next couple of pages, reading more and more about the things that still bugged him to this day. Another entry read about his constant frustration with Torn and Ashlien, with "_their continuous flirting and public displays of affection_", which, now that you mention it, had kinda annoyed me too. At first, I just thought that this was because Jak believed that something like romance was completely pointless. But as I read on, it was actually the complete opposite:  
_"I can't help but slightly dislike Torn and Ashlien's relationship, it just constantly reminds me that they have something special, something I can't have, no matter how much I would try to._

Now we're getting to the good bits! I didn't know Jak was the hopeless-romantic type, or any romantic at all actually. I wonder if he's interested in anyone? Keira maybe? Or perhaps Jak's just jealous about Torn...

I was getting more curious by the end of each page, there had to be more information on Jak's love life, there had to be! By this point, I began slowing down on the skim-reading, not wanting to miss any important details on the romance front. I needed the name, face, and personality about this 'special someone' that may, or may not, eventually end up in both of our lives, if things went well with Jak, and I needed to know now!

Sure enough, I had reached the page I was looking for. Excitement racing through my mind, I made sure not to miss a single detail of anything the following page read.  
_"No matter how much I might like this person, to tell them how I really feel without creating a massive amount of awkwardness, especially when I've known them for so long, is just_ impossible..."  
I smiled once again, as another thought passed my mind. 'Ah, so he's referring to Keira!' Of course, right from the very start, it was obvious that Jak was going to, eventually, develop a crush on this girl, no surprises there. But why keep something that obvious written in such a private diary, there was no point. Hell, the amount of times Tess and I would tease Jak after talking to Keira, and the amount of times he would blush were ridiculous.

I made it mid-paragraph when I noticed it, one single sentence that had tripped up my reading momentum. At first, I thought I'd misread it, the constant repetition of words, could have jumbled my mind somehow. But after cautiously reading it once more, the sentence was still there, just as I'd read it. Only a few seconds later, the realization hit me.

No no no...

I shut the book quietly, but slowly, still processing what i'd just read. Amazingly, I managed to place the diary back in its original position exactly as it was, despite the heavy pillow, climb back up the drawer, and jump into my hammock, tired but still very awake. Once again, I stared into the ceiling. My head began to crowd itself with questions, but my journey to Jak's Diary had taken it all out of me, I would have to think about this more tomorrow...  
As tired as I was,I still couldn't get to sleep, but it wasn't because of the rain anymore, that stopped a long time ago. It was that one sentence, and its unexpected meaning, that continued to bug me.

Jak wasn't in love with Keira...

_"I'm so sorry Daxter, it should have been someone else, why did it have to be you?"_

He was in love with me.

* * *

**If you've read it this far, thanks for giving the story a look! Feel free to leave any thoughts in a review or PM, i'll be very happy to respond!**

**Ladies, Gentlemen and Others, The Sheep is out!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Daxter**

* * *

The next morning was complete hell, and the 4 hours of sleep I got from last night wasn't helping things much either. I knew that today was going to be a busy day for everyone, especially Jak, but in my tired state, I hardly had the energy to care.

As I slowly started to seep my eyes open, the events from last night started to come back to me; The traumatically loud storm, my amazing display of acrobatics, reading Jak's diary, the fact that he's in love with me...OH MY GOD HE'S IN LOVE WITH ME.

Ok, I'll admit, it was stupid that I could almost forget something like that, but the revelation was enough to jolt me wide awake into reality, literally and metaphorically. My mind began to muddle with questions again; _How long has he felt that way? And why? Doesn't he like, ya know, women? _

It was still hard to believe, but I tried to put everything in the back of my mind; today had more urgent matters to think about, I could worry about stuff like that later.

"C'mon Dax, it's time to get up." The sound of Jak drawing back the curtains was the last thing I wanted to hear. A headache began to pulse through my head as I tried to shield my eyes from the sun.

For some reason, I always woke up around the same time Jak did, which normally, was very early in the morning. I guess it had to do with the amount of time we'd spend together, well, saving the world. I also couldn't help but blame Torn, for constantly demanding us to take part in early-morning metal-head hunts/suicide missions. Both of us needed to be wide awake for the other, because we were a team, and the world had become too dangerous for us to not look out for one another. Eventually it kinda turned into a habit, even though we stopped risking our lives a LONG time ago. Actually, I think a _curse_ would have been a better word for it.

"Alright, big guy, I'm getting up!" I responded, which made it very clear how tired I really was. I did the typical morning stretches and yawned. "Just give me a minute to..."

Jak saw me trying to lay down again, but he wasn't going to play ball.

"Oh no you don't, we need to get going, now!"

Jak pinched me out of my hammock and quickly onto his shoulder. Amazingly, Jak had already gotten himself dressed, seconds after getting up, and we were already out of our bedroom before I could even open my eyes again. As we ran down the hallway, I couldn't help but be just a little annoyed.

"C'mon Jak, we've got plenty of time to prepare for the Haven Day season, what's with the big rush?"

I forgot to mention; once every year, everybody in the city celebrates something called Haven Day. It's supposed to celebrate Haven City's victory over the metal heads, and the ending of the centuries-long war against idea, surprisingly enough, had been made up by Ashlien, the sometimes too serious governor of Haven City. She believed that if the city were given a time to officially celebrate, it would "serve to increase the morale of the people, and look towards the possibility of a peaceful future". Of course, everybody in the city council, including Jak and I, agreed with Ashlien's idea, as it was her way of saying that we all deserved a break. It became Haven City's newest and most popular law, this year was going to be the first year to celebrate it.

Jak chuckled slightly, "Have you forgotten already? The Bazaar's going to be packed with people trying to purchase gifts, we've got to get a head start!" I had no energy to argue with him.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the idea of Haven Day more than anyone! In fact, if I wasn't so worn out from last night, I would have been just as eager to get out of the Palace as Jak was. I was glad that Jak had taken to enjoy such a celebration as well, it gave him something else to think about, which was good. The last couple of months ago had been hard on him; losing his father, his only family, must have been one of the hardest things he has to deal with. Hopefully, this celebration could help him to relax a bit more, and assure him that everything was ok now.

I needed to recompose myself, I didn't want Jak to start worrying about me again, and ruin the happy mood that he had going for himself. I didn't want to lie to Jak about what I had been doing last night, and the revelation I had made. I mentally slapped myself.

_"Dammit Daxter, stop worrying about that and get yourself together!"_

By this time, Jak and I had reached the outside of the Palace and were on our way to the Bazaar, which, luckily, was within walking distance. The weather had definitely improved from last night; it wasn't raining, thank god, and most of the clouds had passed by after the storm. I guess today was going to be a good day after all. Jak took off towards the market, not wanting to waste a second of the day. Having managed to adjust myself onto Jak's shoulder, I started to gain my bearings again.

"Ok! You've woken me up," I said, still slightly flustered "but do we have any ideas on what gifts we're going to buy, and for who? Because I sure don't!"

"I've got it all figured out!" Jak grinned with confidence "I've already got an idea for Keira, Sig and Torn, we can split up and you go fetch something for Tess and Ashlien." He tossed me a couple of Precursor Orbs "That should be enough to get something for everyone! Meet me back here when you're done, ok?"

"Alright!" I smiled with more energy than I had, leaping off of Jak's shoulder as we walked our separate ways towards different parts of the Bazaar. I felt more relieved now that I actually had a plan of action, I just needed to figure out what gifts I had to by for Ashlein and Tess. How hard could it be?

As I entered into the marketplace, I realized that Jak had made a good call getting up early. The lack of customers in the Bazaar was a rare sight to see; I think only a quarter of it's average amount of customers had shown up at this time of day, leaving virtually no crowds to dodge past in fear of getting stepped on. I began to wonder how anyone could have the willpower to get up as early as Jak did, and I had my deepest respect for the market tellers for getting up even earlier.  
The market became one of Haven's top priorities for renovation, due to it's destruction when the old Palace was toppled down, and everything looked brand new. The Bazaar had been rebuilt in the same place, but had now been built to fit a lot more people in it, with the buildings accompanying it looking a lot more modern. Good thing it had been built in time for Haven Day, or else there would have been no presents!

I decided to go for Tess' gift first; I knew she would be much easier to please ('cause it'll come from me of course) but I still wanted to take the time and put some thought into it anyways. But what would such a adorable, yet frighteningly eccentric, girl like her enjoy?  
I doubted that she would be into anything flashy, like a shiny ring or a necklace, giving her something like that would be sending the wrong message anyway. I know how it is between Tess and I; she made it very clear on that one particular night when I had way too much to drink and way too much on my mind. It was surprising that I could even remember her response the next morning, and it kinda broke my heart.

Deciding she would prefer something more...dynamic, I headed towards the first stall that came to mind: a recent addition to the Bazaar, titled "Fun with Guns", seemed like the perfect idea.

The guy who headed the stall must have noticed me walking towards him, which was surprising considering my size, as he called me out in a cheery voice.

"Hey there man, the name's Barcuss! How can I help you out on this fine morning?" The man beamed an immense positive attitude, which used to be uncommon back in the early days of the marketplace. I guess things really have changed in Haven.

"Um, do you have anything suitable for a gift?" I asked him, not sure what to expect. It's been years since I've needed to buy anything for anyone, last time I did was back at Sandover, on Jak's 14th birthday. "Perhaps a special gun upgrade, or something.."

"Well, of course!" Barcuss was already rummaging underneath the stall for items. Within seconds, the man had already found something for me. "Here, will this do?" He tossed it to me.  
It was an attachable holographic sight; colored brightly in pink, with it's reticle a cyan star with a black dot in it's center. I observed every side of the thing, just to be careful; nothing too suggestive, and it had a decent price for it.

I made up my mind "Actually, that's exactly what I wanted! Thanks a lot!" I gave him the Precursor Orbs and he wished me a good day. I could hardly believe it. That was a lot easier than I had on I remembered that I still had Ashlein's present to find.

From what I could remember from eavesdropping on Torn I knew that Ashlien had a certain taste for fancy soaps and perfurmes. Seemed out of character at first, but I guess the Governor of Haven city has to keep her posh agenda in check. It didn't take me long to find the appropriate fragrance stall; brightly colored and decorated with pink neon flowers, the smell reminding me of Keira's old bedroom from when we were kids. Nostalgic, yes, but a sickly memory nonetheless.

I tried to only breathe through my mouth as I made my way towards the stall. This one had been in the Bazaar for quite some time, even during the great conflict with the metal heads, and the owner of the stall had always been the same person.

"Welcome to- oh it's you..." The lady snarled in a somewhat posh, yet hostile tone of voice as she recognized me. I never knew the name of this woman, not that I cared to, and I'd only see her around the place once or twice, but she certainly remembered me. "You're that WEASEL that keeps prancing around with a certain menacing adolescent, aren't you?"

I crossed my arms "Well, I never saw YOU trying to save Haven City when it was crumbling to pieces, you wouldn't know half the things we had to do to save YOUR ass!" I was used to taking rude remarks, particularly from a certain tattooed ex-KG leader, but I was hardly prepared for this lady.  
I sighed, calming myself down like Jak had taught me "Look, I just came here to get some perfume for a friend, do you have any of that?"

The lady at the stall sniffed "Of course I do, only the finest fragrances you can find in Haven! Although I don't think it's your _friend_ that needs the perfume..."

I knew what she meant, but I decided to ignore it the best I could. "I'll just take the purple bottle on the top shelf..." It looked nice enough for Ashlien to use,even by her standards. I tossed the lady the orbs, so that I only had a few left to myself. She snorted, but I think she was sorta happy to have the sale anyway, and she passed me the bottle, not say another word.

I gave her one last stare before walking away "And a happy Haven Day to you too..." I grumbled. That couldn't have gone much worse, not that it's my fault, but I didn't want to get me down. The gift-shopping had been done and dusted, all that there was left to do was meet Jak at the rendezvous point outside the market.

Moments later, I could see Jak at our meeting place, from what I could see, he was holding four bags, presumably one to carry each gift separately.

_"Wait a minute, **four **bags?"_ I began to count in my head, _"One for Keira, Sig, and one for Torn. What's the fourth bag for?" _And for the second time today, my memory jolted me into realization. I was missing one bag myself.

_You IDIOT._

I pivoted in the opposite direction, away from Jak, and sprinted back to the Bazaar. It was the middle of the day now, and flocks of people had began piling in, all desperate to be getting into the Haven Day spirit. I had gotten so wrapped up into getting Tess and Ashlein's gifts, I'd completely forgotten the most gift to buy of the lot.

_"Some kind of friend you are, Daxter..."_

This wasn't going to be like last time. This time I would try to get the gift in time, this time I would be a better friend, after all that he has done for me.

This time, I wasn't going to let Jak down.

* * *

**A/N: The King of Procrastination is back! Just a few things to say:**

**I'm considering, for the good cause of plot development, about having some POV character changes during each chapter, Game of Thrones style, mostly consisting the two main characters, Jak and Daxter, since the story is about them, after all. These chapters could vary in length, but I'll make sure, SOME juicy content is put into each of them.  
****This chapter is rather uneventful, I'm sure you've noticed by now, but I want to pace things out at this stage and take my time with the plot, I'm not even sure where this is going, but i'll think of something...**

**Anyways... Ladies, Gentlemen and others, The Sheep is out!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Jak**

* * *

I have to say, Haven's certainly changed a lot over the last few months, the atmosphere is just a lot more...relaxed. People were starting to smile a lot more now, what used to be sounds of screaming had been replaced by laughter, and the buildings were no longer on fire, so things have definitely improve, to say the least.

I suppose that's why we have something called Haven Day now, isn't it? It's been an entire year since the end of the dark days along with the metal head regime, and now, we can be grateful that no war had arisen for an entire year, and celebrate for it. I must admit, it felt good to be a part of that change, everything Dax and I had to go through could finally seem like it was worth something.

Daxter...

It was definitely safe to say that the two of us were inseparable, 12 years since the day we met, Back at Sandover, villagers would joke how we acted as one person, Daxter was the voice, since I had been mute, while I was the "pretty face" as Daxter had put it. In that way, we sort of needed each other; Daxter understood me a lot more than Samos or Keira did, so he could voice my thoughts and opinions to others. In return, I became somebody for him to talk to, when nobody else would bother to listen, laughing at his jokes and listening to his problems. The loudmouth and the mute, what a pair we were.

But then...there was a rift gate...then the prison and...then the worst 2 years of my life followed. I was imprisoned in a totally different environment, cramped full of people who were just as confused and scared as I was. It was hard to decide what was worse, that I had been put in the darkest form of hell, facing one torturous experiment after another, or that I was going through it all alone, without Daxter by my side to lift my mood up. I hardly had the strength to live through to the next day, both physically and emotionally, and I had began to wonder if surviving was really worth the effort.

That was until 2 years later, the day that I was released. I remember feeling a sudden burst of anger flow through me as I was untied from the experimental chair.

_"I'm gonna KILL Praxis!"_

Then the next thing I remembered was standing up, legs cramped and staring down at my savior. My best friend in the world, and the reason I chose to fight through each torture, staring right back at me in absolute shock. Daxter had come all this way to rescue me, an almost lost cause, and had probably risked his life countless times to do so. What was even more impressive, he had looked for 2 _years_, and had not given up for a second of it.

I guess that's what did it for me, what made me realise what I had felt for a very long time. Daxter made me strong, and was the main motivation for me to become a "hero", but it wasn't just that. Daxter also made me happy, probably being the only person that could make me laugh, and gave me a more positive outlook on everything good and bad. He always had a sort of positive vibe surrounding him. Even when he was annoyed or frustrated, Daxter's jokes were more than enough to lift the mood, especially when I was the one feeling down. In shorter words, Daxter just made my life better in general, and because of that, I was faced with a daunting conclusion.

People might call me a freak, having feelings for an annoying orange-furred ottsel half my size, but I didn't see it like that.

I was in love with my best friend, it couldn't be more straightforward than that, and nothing could convince me otherwise. What made it hard was knowing that I had to keep all of that to myself. I couldn't tell anyone, especially Daxter. I knew exactly what would happen; first, he would have a look of shock, then an awkward space would follow, before Daxter decides that he can't even look me in the eyes. Our friendship wouldn't be the same, for good reason, and by the end, the result will severely hurt the both of may have kept a lot to each other, but this time, I was on my own.

Despite that, I didn't let it bother me too much. Daxter was still _here_ with me, even if just as a friend, and I was extremely grateful for that. Getting worked up will only make things worse, and I could NOT let Daxter see me in a depressed state. I knew how stubborn he could get when it came to fixing problems...

Luckily for me, the bright banners and smiling atmosphere of reconstructed Haven was insistent on distracting me, and soon enough I became mesmerized. The last time Daxter and I had celebrated anything was over five years ago at Sandover, so it was a nice feeling getting back into tradition. Even the process of purchasing gifts gave me a good sense of nostalgia, even when it required getting up two hours earlier to beat the crowds, dragging a tired, reluctant ottsel along with me. No regrets there.

Getting a good gift for Torn, Sig and Keira was easier done than said. I had memorized all the right stalls to go for and made sure to get them out of the way as soon as possible. I'd bet that nobody would have guessed that I, of all people, would be the one making plans for a celebration. I was sure to show them, chances were that the others weren't even awake.

Daxter's gift however, wasn't so simple. Splitting up outside the Bazaar might have been part of my plan to share the workload between us, but it was also needed to get rid of Daxter for a while. I couldn't have _him_ taking a sneak peak, now could I?

What took me the longest to plan, I'd have to say, was actually _deciding_ on the perfect gift for Daxter. I wanted it to remind him of all the times we'd spent together, and all of the times we _will_ spend together in the future. I wanted to make him feel appreciated for being my best friend, and that I would always be there for him, come hell or high water, as dramatic as it sounds.

I only just managed to make up mind on it a day ago, luckily, and it was perfect.

I sighed, leaning onto the nearest wall I could find. It was a fantastic day to be outside, the morning smelt fresh, the sky unpolluted with a clear cyan colour. I think even Daxter would agree that it was well worth getting up early.

_I wonder what's taking him so long..._

I checked the digital watch on my communicator, I had only been at the rendezvous for about twenty minutes. There was no real reason to be worried about anything yet, so why was I so paranoid? Maybe I should have given Daxter some suggestions on what to get Tess and Ashlein, but personally, I thought he would have a better idea on what to get them anyway.

It's not like I didn't have faith in him or anything, I knew that Daxter was capable of a lot of things, but I couldn't help but wonder, was it really a good idea to leave him alone in a Bazaar full of people who could step on him at any given moment? If Daxter wasn't back soon, the whole of Haven City's population would be on top of him, literally. After all, nothing in the Bazaar was this cheap until Haven Day season came along, so I wouldn't be surprised if people became more focused on better gift values, and not watching where they were stepping.

Another thought began to trouble me. What if none of the tellers took Daxter too seriously, or what if they thought he was some sort of rodent contaminating the stalls? Daxter was always with me when we bought supplies, safe on my shoulder, but now, he was fair game for pest extermination. I was so stupid.

I went back on my communicator, scrolling through contacts. I had to find him now, before the market got too populated, before anything bad happens. At a time like this, there was no way he could make it out by himse-

"Alright...I'm back, Jak!"

I looked down to see Daxter, panting in exhaustion. It didn't look like he was hurt, thank god, but he looked tired, almost as if he ran a marathon.

"Hey," I smiled folding my arms, "didn't have a hard time finding gifts, did we?" I relaxed, playing it casual.

"Nah...not for a second!" He looked up at me "what ya looking at?"

"Nothing in particular..." I put my communicator away, I needed to change the subject. "And what about you? Deciding on taking up morning runs?"

"Heh, in your dreams pretty boy," Daxter smirked "these feat aint made for running around, you know, that's supposed to be _your _job!"

"Sorry to make you go through such torture"

"Hey! You aint gonna see me complaining, Orange Lighting has it all under control!" Daxter held up the large bag he was holding, holding the gifts he had bought for Ashlein and Tess.

I reached down to grab the bag from Daxter, assuming he wanted me to carry it for him. He snatched it away.

"That's okay buddy...I can hold onto it myself." I could hear Daxter's voice slightly quicken. "I'll show ya when we get back..."

He had a point, we didn't need to look at what we bought now, that could wait until later. I let Daxter climb on my shoulder, like he always does, and we began our walk home.

"Ok, so we've got the painful part done and dusted, what do we do now, Jak?"

"Well..." I smiled, looking back at Daxter. "The 'Grand Feast' doesn't happen for a couple of hours, we could get the wrapping stuff out-of-the-way, and then try to kill some time from there?"

Daxter grinned back. "Sounds good to me!"

* * *

You'd think a double bedroom in the Royal Palace would look rather neat, wouldn't you? Our room was the shining, or not so shining, exception to that.

It wasn't a pigsty, but the mix of scattered clothing (obviously my fault), spilt tomato sauce (I could blame Daxter for that) and the adolescent stench of the room (probably the both of us) didn't really represent the "royal" part of the Palace all too well. That's probably why our room is the farthest from the main entrance though, wouldn't want to go scaring off visitors. With that being said, we were well used to the mess.

Tossing a couple of T-shirts aside, we sat ourselves down and got to business. It was then that Daxter and I both realized that neither of us bought any wrapping paper. It was a slight hole in the plan, but we decided to improvise with what we already had. It took us about 10 minutes to find a couple of well-sealed boxes within the room. Daxter even stole into the Palace's storage room to find extra boxes to fit our particular gifts.

I was impressed with what Daxter had bought, he seemed to have thought things through as much as I had. I was sure that Tess, and even Ashlein, would be happy with what they would get this year. I wasn't surprised that Daxter didn't get anything for me, but I didn't care. I think just him being here was enough to make me happy.

Oh god, I sound so cliche.

Once we were done with the boxing, we sat in the floor and began the next phase of the plan: figuring out on how to kill time. As far as Daxter and I knew, everyone else would be busy with their shopping at this point, so it would be just the two of us, that was good enough for me.

"We could run through the shooting range another time?" Daxter proposed.

I shook my head, I wanted something more relaxing "I think it would be a better idea to save our energy for the party, don't you agree?"

"Oh yeah, good point," Daxter nodded. "do you have any ideas?"

I thought for a moment. I would have just been fine sitting here all day, talking about life and it's meanings with Daxter, just the two of us. But I doubted Daxter was into that idea half as much as I was, chances were that it would probably just bore the hell outta him.

I decided to take a gamble "How about a movie?"

I saw a slight look of surprise on Daxter, or maybe it was shock. "...have they finished the Haven Cinemaplex already?"

"Yeah, we could see if anything's on and... maybe kill some time there?" I finished, as I saw Daxter looking away, locked into deep thinking.

"Hmm..."

I wasn't liking his facial expression, something was putting him off. Maybe Daxter wasn't a fan of movies, or just preferred something a little more exciting. Either way, I didn't want to force him into anything he disliked.

"We don't have to..."

Daxter looked back at me with widened eyes, as if he was in a daydream. "Oh no no no! That's a great idea Jak!" He started to smile again, "My mind was just in another place, that's all. What time were you thinking?"

I blinked "I was thinking about now..." I guess he was too focused on his thoughts to listen.

"Then in that case, let's getta move on Jak!"

I nodded as Daxter climbed onto my shoulder again as we got up to leave the room. He seemed to be back to his usual self now, but I couldn't help but notice something was out of character with him today. He just seemed...off about something. It was probably just the holiday season getting to him, it seemed to be changing a lot people in Haven. But still, I couldn't help but worry that there was something more to Daxter's quirky mood change.

_"Stop being so cynical" _

I tried to look on the bright-side. At least he was safe now, no more metal heads, Krimson Guard and free to spend more time with me, which, I guess by the end of the day, was all that really mattered._  
_

Dammit, there I go again.

* * *

**A/N: So there we go, another chapter done!**

**Let me know what you think of the story, I'll be updating the story's grammar more often than the real story, but I'll try my best to not keep you waiting...**

**Ladies, Gentlemen and Others, The Sheep is out!**

**(12th Oct. Edit: You may have noticed it's been a while since an update. I made a slight edit to the end of this chapter as a way of showing that I still care about getting this fic done. I've just been held up due to school exams, and getting into the hype of Marvel's new movie Guardians of the Galaxy. Once I get that all out of the way, i'll definitely start to propel this story with more momentum than before. Rest assured, i'll get it done.)**


End file.
